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Relieved of his most pressing fear, Ian grinned. It was rather fun to match wits with Alinor. He could see that she did not wish to anger him by refusing to answer, and he believed that she would keep her word and not tell a flat lie. In this chamber she would speak the literal truth. The trick was to recognize when the literal truth was as good as a lie, to ask such questions as would not force her into a stubborn silence and yet would produce answers that could be pieced together to mean something. |
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"Will Sir Peter be allowed to leave here in peace and to arrive at Clyro Hill in possession of his health, his wits, and all his limbs?" |
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Alinor stared at him blankly and then began to laugh. "It would serve you right if I made you waste half the morning drawing from me piece by piece what you want to know. Why do you not ask outright? I have told you the exact truth." |
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"I am sure you have. So exact that if what befalls Sir Peter is one hairsbreadth to one side or the other of what you have said, I will not be able to call you a liar. As to asking straight" Suddenly Ian's face became bleak, his eyes distant. "What can I do if you refuse to answer me? Do not mistake me, Alinor. It is not you I fear but myself. I have seen what follows when a man uses his strength against a woman." |
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Stricken by sympathy, Alinor nearly assured her husband that she would keep nothing from him. Good sense restrained her at the last moment so that she only said, "I have nothing to hide on the subject of Sir Peter. He has served me well and faithfully in the past. His looks were strange, but that could mean many things. Also, when I bethought me of what you said, I came to see the truth of it. What is more, the man has a wife and children" Her eyes hardened again. "Whom, you will note, he did not bring with him." |
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"That has no meaning. It is a long way and he might |
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